Long Far Gone

by A-P-A

Chapter 2: The way the world ends

Ponyville, Equestria. 1:43am 22/06/1000 AN

Twilight Sparkle was confused, there were plenty of other emotions swirling round her head, like worry, anger, fatigue. But right now she was confused. When she and her new friends confronted Nightmare Moon at the old castle out in the Everfree she thought she would be doing Equestria a great service, but when the Princess arrived all she saw in her eyes was hate. What had she done wrong? She had found the elements of harmony and defeated a great foe, she and her friends had saved Equestria. Why was the Princess so upset.

Twilight had sent countless apology letters, all perfectly formatted, zero spelling mistakes; and yet not a single one was answered.
She was trying to write them from the heart, but that becomes rather tedious when you have no idea what your apologising for.
She sighed and looked down at the now sleeping form of Spike, all those letters must have really tired him out. Twilight put down her quill and parchment and picked up the astronomy book that was sitting on the desk next to her. She may have been confused as to why the Princess was angry with her but she was still thankful for her foresight, this library had books on almost everything she could imagine. Right now she was looking into astronomy, star patterns and the like. When she had been writing on the balcony earlier Twilight had noticed something odd. A small flash of light near the moon. She didn't know what it was or if something like it had been seen before, so she was studying the night sky to try and find out.

Maybe the Princess would answer some of her letters tomorrow. At least Nightmare Moon was gone, for good this time she hoped...

The Long Far Gone, Meridian bay, Mars. 1000 years prior.

Mathew and his ghost were currently having a small chat with 031 Exuberant-Witness, as she called herself. After everyone had calmed down and it was identified that no one was a Vex construct or trying to get the jump on anyone else, Mathew had lowered his guard significantly. The monitor apologised profoundly for the actions of what she called 'an enforcer unit', and said that it wasn't meant to attack them them way it did. A simple situational error, it had obviously thought they were some kind of intruders. Well technically they were intruders, but not the hostile kind. Just the lost kind.

"So why exactly are you calling me 'reclaimer'." Asked Mathew, a stern look on under his helmet.

"Well your human aren't you?" Replied the monitor seemingly unaware of the guardians lack of knowledge.

Ghost huffed, this monitor wasn't making things easier. "Yes we are aware of that, but how does that relate to why your calling him a reclaimer."

The monitor blinked as she accessed a memory which hadn't been activated in a very long time.

"A reclaimer is a being that is capable of accessing Forerunner technology, in this case humans. It also applies to a being or a group of beings that will be the next inheritors of the mantle of responsibility. That is you reclaimer."

This was a lot to take in, what was the mantle of responsibility? Who were the Forerunners? So many questions. Mathew was about to ask when his ghost cut in front of him.

"Who were the Forerunners?"

The monitor recoiled as though she had been struck.

"Surely you remember them, your species had quite the connection with them before. Could it have vanished back when..."

The monitors voice trailed off into ineligible mumbles.

"So are you going to tell us or what?" Asked Mathew, quite frankly at the end of his tether.

"Um yes, of course reclaimer. The Forerunners were my creators as well as the architects of many large scale structures throughout the galaxy. Things like the Halo array and the Wandering star. Your species has always had a profound fascination with Forerunner artefacts, despite the knowledge you gained of many of their functions. I wish the same could be said about the previous owners of this vessel..."

Ghost thought about this, if the humans had a connection to these Forerunner beings then why hadn't he heard about them before. Just to make sure he wasn't missing anything, he accessed the Travelers massive databank. Nothing. He tried searching for the Halo array. Still nothing. What was the last one she had mentioned.

"I've seen reference to the Halo array in the ships files, but nothing on this 'Wandering star' you mentioned, what was it?" Asked ghost.

Exuberant-Witness looked extremely confused.

"What do you mean, I assumed you would know more about that one than any of the others. It's the one you formed the greatest bond with after all. You came up with a quirky little name as well... What was it? Oh yes, the Traveler."

Mathew sat up in suprise, these beings created the Traveler, one of the biggest mysteries of their time. The vanguard will most definitely want to hear about this.

"Wh-WHAT!" Stammered ghost.

"Yes, quite perplexing. It seems that humanity has lost quite a bit of knowledge regarding its previous exploits. You were lucky retain the same prowess for discovery the first time, unlike your four-legged allies. But I guess luck has to run out eventually."

Four-legged allies? How strange, it didn't matter though. There were bigger fish to fry.

"This must have all been lost in the collapse, I can't find any relevant data anywhere. There is however a large gap in the Traveller's memory due to sustained damage. Maybe that's the reason." Said ghost.

"I imagine that may be something to do with it." Responded Exuberant. "Your foes down there seem like the type that could cause such damage. Though I have seen worse."

Ghost sighed, he doesn't remember the great battle that eventually brought about his existence. No one does.

Mathew spoke up. "What about this ship, did the Forerunners create this to."

Exuberant shifted her eye away from ghost and towards Mathew.

"No actually, while this ship contains many reverse engineered Forerunner designs, it wasn't originally created by them. The ship was built by the Covenant empire." She glanced at the confused looks both Mathew and his ghost were giving her. "It was a unified conglomerate of many races that viewed the Forerunners as some sort of... Deities. They were an old enemy of humanity. This ship was one of only three ever constructed. The 'Long Far Gone', the 'Long Night of Solace' and the 'Sublime Transcendence'. The Long Night of Solace was destroyed during the human-Covenant war. While The Sublime Transcendence was destroyed in a later battle involving one of our shield worlds."

Ghost searched the Traveler for information regarding the Covenant, and, much to his surprise, actually found a file. It was linked to the legend of Sanghelios, which was an old tail told to children about alien warriors that would descend from the sky to save them. Odd.

Mathew was pondering the information received, more so how it would need to be delivered to the vanguard as soon as possible, he tried to access his transceiver, only to remember the radio silence this ship brought about. He turned to Exuberant. There was just one more thing he wanted no know.

"What do you guys call yourselves, like, do you have a name."

The monitor flickered for a second.

"Ah yes, we are the protecters of the various Forerunner Facilities that span the galaxy, more commonly known as 'Sentinels'."

Mathew inhaled, so these machines created the Vex. He didn't want to ask the next question, but it had to be asked.

"What do you know about the the... Vex."

It happened in an instant, the normal pink glow of the monitors eye flickered red and she began to shake, what was even more disturbing was what she said.

"How easy it is to stay up late, when you don't know what's real and don't know what's fake..."

Then it was over, her eye returned to pink and the flickering stopped, she floated still for a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry reclaimer, we know much about the Vex, but I won't share their history with you. That is..." She paused, processing her next words. "...to painful to recite."

Could machines even feel pain. It didn't matter, he obviously wasn't getting any information out of her. So he decided not to push.

Mathew turned to his ghost. "We need to get in contact with Cayde, have you found the source of the interference."

"No not yet, I think it might be something to do with..."

"Perhaps I could offer some insight." Interjected Exuberant. "The disruption of your radio is most likely due to the gravity lifts activity, many of my Sentinels reported errors in communication systems while they were maintaining the antigravity generators that allow it to function, if your intent is to contact your superiors, then relocating to another part of the ship is most likely the best course of action. The ships bridge perhaps?"

Mathew thought this over. If the monitor was right and the disruption was coming from the lift, then moving seemed like a perfectly acceptable solution.

"Alright then, uh, lead the way." He said.

Ghost just grumbled to himself. He could have thought of that.

Exuberant turned to leave. "This way." She sang, in an oddly melodic voice.

They moved across the lift bay and towards a small door in the wall, it's blue lights shimmering as they approached. Exuberant closed the distance towards the door, the center began to rotate before the door split into thirds, two disappearing into the top of the frame while the other slid into the floor, revealing what looked like a slightly more mechanical lift. They entered and Mathew immediately slouched against the support bars.

The inside of the lift was a similar story, thousands of sparkling blue dots covered the walls, blinking from behind access panels and grates. One wall was dominated by a large sheet of reinforced glass, giving them a view into the elevator shaft. Exuberant hovered over to a holopanel and shot out a beam to punch in a floor. The elevator began to ascend at an alarming rate.

"So how long have you been around here exactly, and why show yourself now." Questioned Mathew.

"This ship, as well as the remaining Sentinel force, has been present in the Sol system for approximately five hundred years. Though we couldn't risk revealing ourselves to you in fear of how you may react."

That... Actually made more sense than Mathew wanted it too. Just one more reason to trust the floating purple eyeball. Though he couldn't shake the odd feeling of uncertainty she gave off, almost like that strange character he had met on Venus all that time ago. She never did show up again, probably never intended to. Mathew still had the rifle she gave him, it was in the vault at the tower, next to his old Khvostov 7G. Man that thing needed an upgrade, maybe with a few extra firing modes...

He was snapped off his tangent by the sound of the elevator slowing down, it came to a gentle stop if front of a door much similar to the one downstairs. The door opened up into a dark passageway with shining silver walls, the blue sparks of light reflecting off their surface. What was most fascinating was the texture of the floor, which shimmered beautifully. Waves of energy pulsed along its surface, almost forming the shapes of arrows. Exuberant spoke up.

"This plasma based propulsion system is a common feature throughout the ships interior, it must have served to allow the Covenant quicker passage around the various sections of the carrier. Of course it doesn't get much use now, none of us have feet." She let out a small giggle. Mathew stepped onto the floor and began to move forwards, at least there wasn't going to be much walking involved.

"So it's a kind of futuristic travelator, seems kinda lazy if you ask me." Quipped ghost.

"Well I guess even the Covenant had their little desires." Laughed Exuberant.

"Hang on a minute, bud. I don't see you trudging around a fifteen mile starship, in fact, I'm pretty sure it was me that walked through the fucking desert just to get to that outpost in the first place."

"It's not my fault you didn't link to the transmat array in time."

"That's because you were too busy doing fucking loopty-loops with the jump ship for me to lock a signal, you know how much the Cabal love to block those things."

They all shared a laugh at ghosts antics, he did love a good prank. The thought of his jump ship reminded him of something he had been meaning to ask.

"Exuberant, would it be possible for us to land our ship anywhere on board, the Cabal tend to ambush jump ships while they're in orbit."

Exuberant let out a small squee. "Of course reclaimer, it would be my pleasure. Here's a set of coordinates for one of the hangers."

"Got it." Said ghost "Directing the ship now."

Mathew could see a door coming into view in the distance, that must be the bridge.

"It appears we have arrived at our destination reclaimer, prepare to disembark."

They slowed to a crawl before Mathew stepped off the ride and onto a stationary platform. Exuberant flew over his shoulder and began to zap the controls next to the door.

"Now I must warn you, the bridge can sometimes get a little...busy. Not that your in any danger of course, but just a forewarning."

There was a ping before the entrance slipped open, Mathew entered after Exuberant. Astounding doesn't even describe what he saw.

The bridge was huge, hundreds of panels and screens covering the walls, flashing different colours while rows of text and symbols raced across them. Many Sentinels, of all different varieties, flew about. All performing different and probably confusing tasks. The ceiling was dominated by a large holographic projection of Mars, many red and yellow dots blinked around it, most likely identifying Cabal or Fallen fleet movements. The wall adjacent to the entrance was a tall window, lined with flight consoles. The now empty chairs glistened, the ambiant light from the hologram bouncing off their surface. Through the window, dark stretches of Martian sand could be seen as well as a single Cabal battle cruiser, slinking across the night sky. Ghost was the first to comment.

"Wow, this place is incredible, it's like a palace."

"Yes the Covenant certainly were extravagant when it came to interior decorating, even if practicality was occasionally lost."

Over in the far corner of the room, something purple caught Mathews attention, that couldn't be what he thought it was, could it..?

"Is that a servitor." He gestured to the dark sphere, resting within a stand.

"Is that what that device is called, we found it buried in the rubble on Phobos, it seemed undamaged though dormant, almost in a sleep state. We had some of its more... Malicious, programming removed, though it seemed to display a knack for managing some of the flight controls. We hooked it up there a while ago. It hasn't woken up yet."

"It's a Fallen machine, designed to channel ether to their troops or aid with the hacking of computer systems in the field. They're also used as pilots on board Fallen ketches." Said Mathew.

His mind wandered back to his old pal, the late Sepiks Prime. He had had to destroy that thing again after the SIVA outbreak, it was tougher than previously, but they were victorious regardless. If the monitor had wiped it's memory then it could serve as a rather useful tool, the vanguard often considered the acquisition of servitors more than a boon that anything else, in most cases.

Ghost spoke up. "We should probably try and contact the tower, they'll want to hear about all this."

"Yes, that is the reason we came up here after all." Chirped Exuberant

Mathew activated his helmets transponder and was relieved to find it functional. Why hadn't he been contacted already? He opened a secure channel.

"This is guardian Mathew Ausland, reporting in. Cayde, how's things back at the nest."

Silence.

"I repeat, this is guardian Mathew Ausland, please respond."

Nothing, there was faint background noise coming through, though Mathew had trouble hearing exactly what it was.

"Ghost, can you increase the volume on the speakers."

Ghost didn't say anything as the volume increased. Mathew could just about here it, the noises were high pitched, but not artificial, it was almost as if they were... Screams?

"Ghost, get me a direct line to Cayde's transceiver, we need to know what's going on." Said Mathew, the panic rising in his voice.

Ghost split into a ball of pure light as he began to search for Cayde's signal, after a short moment, he found it.

"I got it, patching you through."

Mathew nodded and began to listen intently, static filled his helmet, but the signal was there.

"*static*ardian, is th*static*you." The static began to clear. The noise was deafening now, it sounded like an entire stadium of people. Ghost immediately decreased the volume.

"Cayde can you hear me!" Shouted Mathew.

"Guardian, you have to listen to me very carefully. Something is draining the *cough* Travelers light."

Mathew gasped, this wasn't good. It's not the first time this had happened either. If the light from the Traveler was drained then the guardians that protected the city would fall, as they were only sustained through the light. Usually the hive were responsible for this kind of thing, so if he could find the ritual site then...

"What's draining it! Give me the coordinates!"

Cayde sounded raspy. "Kid you don't understand, this is a rate of drain we've never seen before. This is no *cough* Hive ritual, all of the light is being directed far out of the system. The only way to stop it would be to cut it off *cough* at the source."

"Ghost track the lights current trajectory."

Ghost began to to calculate when Exuberant cut him off.

"Here, I'm detecting a large amount of arcane energy leaving the system. Some of it has already arrived at the source."

The holograph of Mars was replaced by that of the Milky Way, a triangular vector showed the destination of the light. It was well outside the galactic rim, on the very edge of deep space. Even with the fastest of jump ship that journey would take hundreds of years. Mathew couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. There had to be a way, there was always a way...

Cayde's voice was extremely weak now, almost a whisper. "If it's any consolation Mathew, you were one of the finest guardians I've ever had the honour of working with. Maybe if we meet in the afterlife I'll buy you a drink, though I wouldn't count on it."

Mathew felt his heard drop. "Likewise Cayde. Likewise."

He slumped against a control panel. So this was it eh. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang or a supernova, but with more of the noise of a vacuum cleaner sucking up a penny. As if on cue he felt the deck rumble, many of the Sentinels had stopped their functions and were gazing out at the night sky above. A huge plum of swirling colour, resembling a large interstellar rainbow was speeding out of the system. He checked his star map and was left unsurprised.

"That was earth, the Traveler it... The strain was too much." Whispered ghost.

Mathew felt his own light weaken, like a spent candle. He thought back to the tower, his friends and allies. His trusty fireteam:

Maria, the steadfast Titan, the one who would take anything as a challange, yet deep down only cared for her friends.

Lockjaw-11, his Hunter partner in crime, though he resented crime as much as he resented having to fight. Always wanting to show a little kindness.

Triss, the Warlock that spent more time trying to be creative, rather than ramming knowledge down her neck, she would give up hours of her time just to see the citizens of the city happy.

Kalie, the Titan who only really cared about making her friends smile, even if she had to break an archons neck to do it.

And finally Sam, the friendly neighbourhood bookworm Warlock, he spent more time in the library than Mathew did avoiding it. Always had a plan for every situation. Even if they occasionally failed.

He was going to miss them, all of them. As his light faded so did he, his body twinkled into dust. Leaving a faint residue. Ghost knew that his own light would soon follow, he had barely any power as is, but he wasn't giving up. Ghost turned to Exuberant.

"How long would it take to reach the location of the light, is it a trip this ship can make." He purred

"The travel time would be around a thousand years, give or take an hour. This ship is perfectly capable of making the trip as is."

"Will you take us there?"

Exuberant sighed.

"Your guardian is a reclaimer, the last reclaimer. It would go against everything I stand for not to."

Ghost just dimmed slightly. His voice trailing into static.

"T-thank y-you."

That was all he got out before he deactivated. The small shell hit the deck of the bridge and flickered off. Exuberant stared at him, the small frame looking like nothing more than a mismatched trinket. Someone was going to be held responsible for this, she would see to that.

Exuberant took control of the ships thrusters and propelled it away from the Martian surface, the ships cloak deactivated, revealing its massive white form, carving through space. They passed by a stunned Cabal battle group as the slip-space drives activated. A portal opened at the ships bow and it journeyed through. Leaving a sea of old memories in its wake.

Author's Note:

Ello folks, this chapters a bit longer than the last two, I want to try and focus on longer chapters.

Special thanks to my rather obnoxious proof reader @almy5ter0 on Instagram. He posts a lot of shite memes, I wouldn't follow if I were you.

Comment your current thoughts as well as anything you would like to see happen down below, who knows I might just steal your idea.

Comments

[A-P-A]

7664009 Your will is my command, I'm already drafting the next one.

[LWOverFlow]

Huh, just a question involving exuberant, what is she exactly? Secondarily do halo and destiny mix? Misteries to a noob in the subject.